Bill Eastman

Funeral Services were held on Monday, Dec. 10, at the funeral home. The Rev. Don Kelly officiated. Burial was in the Riverview Cemetery in Louisiana.

Mr. Eastman was born January 14, 1925 in Creston, Iowa to Walter Roy and Maulcy (Knight) Eastman. He moved to Louisiana with his parents in 1930 and graduated from Louisiana High School in 1942 where he was a three-sport letterman in football, basketball and track.

In 1943, Mr. Eastman was inducted into the Army and served as a paratrooper during World War II with the 17th Airborne Division known as “Thunder from Heaven.”

He fought in the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944 and received a Purple Heart. He was also with the first combat unit to jump the Rhine River into Nazi Germany.

After the war, Mr. Eastman worked construction in St. Louis. He married Imogene Willis on Feb. 19, 1955 and they moved to Louisiana in 1958 where Mr. Eastman was employed at Hercules, Inc. until his retirement in March of 1987.

Mr. Eastman was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Louisiana. He was also a member of Elks Lodge 791 and the Pike County Country Club where he was an avid golfer.

Mr. Eastman is survived by his wife, Jean; their two sons, Rick Eastman and wife Pat of Jefferson City, and their children Zach and Karina; and Phil Eastman and wife Kim of Olathe, Kas. and their children Daniel and Matthew.

He was preceded in death by his parents in 1991 and an infant grandson, Nathan David Eastman on July 2, 2004.